Validation of binaural recordings with head tracking for use in soundscape evaluation

Author

Date of Issue

Conference Name

46th International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering (INTER-NOISE 2017)

School

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Research Centre

Digital Signal Processing Lab

Version

Published version

Abstract

Given that sounds in real-life environments and soundscapes possess direction and distance cues, it is essential to replicate these cues in virtual reality (VR) simulations used for soundscape evaluation, to ensure that the results obtained have high ecological validity. One way to replicate the desired direction and distance cues of environmental sound sources in VR simulations is to use binaural recordings coupled with head tracking for playback, instead of regular binaural or stereo recordings. The effect of using binaural recordings coupled with head tracking in VR simulations for soundscape evaluations is thus investigated. Subjects were asked to evaluate soundscapes of in-situ locations. Subsequently, they were presented with VR reproductions of the same locations in a controlled laboratory environment. The reproductions used actual audio and video captured from the in-situ location, differing only in the type of audio used for playback. The subjects were asked to evaluate the VR soundscapes experienced using the different reproduction methods in a blind test. The validation of binaural recordings with head tracking for soundscape evaluation is based on the similarity of responses as compared to the in-situ locations, as well as the quality and immersiveness experienced by the subjects.